Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson addresses the media in March to express his support of The Cleveland Metropolitan School District's PRE4CLE preschool program. Jackson, the Gund Foundation and County Executive Ed FitzGerald were among those present to announce the implementation plan for their pre-kindergarten program. A few of the new Pre-K classes have been delayed this week because the district failed to get classroom occupancy permits by Friday. (Lynn Ischay/The Plain Dealer)
(Lynn Ischay Lynn Ischay Lynn Ischay)

Should parents give the Cleveland school district slack in opening new pre kindergarten classes?

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Metropolitan School District is on an important mission to help more children succeed by promoting and expanding all-day pre-kindergarten offerings across the city.

There's just one small problem: The district isn't ready to host a few of the classes, which were supposed to be available today.

Pre-K classes at four schools are instead on hold, at least for a few more days.

At Riverside Elementary, a popular and top-performing kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school on the city's West Side, a new Pre-K class has been delayed because the district hasn't gotten an occupancy permit from the city for the classroom. And that appears to be the root of the delay at the other three schools.

The district decided in March to offer Pre-K at Riverside and shortly thereafter identified a room. The district is paying a teacher right now to run the class. So, why hasn't the room been approved yet?

District spokeswoman Roseann Canfora told me Thursday that the process of certifying a room for such young kids is complicated and requires a special occupancy permit. And, she said, the district sometimes has to wait on the city.

I find that excuse hard to accept. The district already runs Pre-K classes at other schools, so the certification process isn't anything new.

And let's not forget the fact that Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson runs the city – and the schools. Left hand, meet the right hand.

Canfora told me Friday afternoon that the district and city completed inspections of Pre-K classrooms at three of the four schools that lacked permits -- apparently in just the last 24 hours or so. (The three are Clark, McKinley and Cleveland School of the Arts' lower campus. Riverside is not one of them.) She said school officials from each school would call parents soon with a start date. Canfora said the district hopes to have an update on Riverside later today.

Riverside parent Katie Capel made me aware of the issue. Capel is one of a half dozen Cleveland school parents I interviewed in 2012 for a column on the district's efforts to pass a major school levy that year. Among the issues raised by Capel and others during that interview was the district's poor communication with parents.

This week, Capel shared her emails with the district officials – that date back to March -- to illustrate her frustration over trying to pin down a start date for the new Pre-K class. Capel also has a fourth-grader at Riverside, which opened for classes last week. (Pre-K classes do not start on the same day as regular school by design.)

Earlier this month, Capel pressed school officials for answers. Several school officials – including district chief Eric Gordon – responded by email. They were polite and apologetic.

But missing from the emails was clarity. Linda King with the district's Office of Early Childhood Education finally identified on Thursday the reason for the hold.

"I just spoke with the CMSD department that gets the needed Occupancy Permit for the licensing of a Pre-K room," King wrote Capel in an email. "They are continuing to work with the city to resolve issues that will allow us to receive the permit. I am unable to give you a definite time frame at this point. Mr. Sisson, Pre-K teacher, will be calling parents as soon as we know the start date for Pre-K. I apologize for the inconvenience that this may have caused but it is not possible for us to start Pre-K until I receive that form."

It doesn't matter whether the district is waiting for an inspection or the district waited too long to ask for one. Jackson should be raising H-E-double-hockey-sticks. He's tied the success of his administration to the success of the schools. What could be a bigger priority than getting kids in a classroom?

As Capel waits, the district is boasting about its Pre-k classes. Gordon posted Friday morning on his Facebook page this message: "PRE4CLE, Cleveland's early childhood education plan is working. 1020 4-year-old scholars begin school today @clemetroschools!"

The district launched the "PRE4CLE" program with great fanfare in March. The program is a partnership between the Cleveland schools and more than 30 local agencies to offer high-quality preschools in the schools and elsewhere in the city. The district hopes to enroll a total of 2,000 Pre-K students this year and next. The district has said the program is relying on parents as a key partner.

The district told me Capel is the only parent complaining about the delayed start of Pre-K. If true, that's hardly a good thing.

Capel said the district doesn't hear from a lot of others because most parents give up out of frustration.

"I feel like I'm speaking a different language," Capel told me. "What I've said to the district in the last 10 to 15 emails is 'why haven't you been able to tell us.' The lack of communication is beyond frustrating and they make you feel like you are the one who is crazy."

Capel is not crazy. She's just vocal. And the district needs more parents like her.

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